The Butterfly Exchange

THE BUTTERFLY EXCHANGE is inspired by 莊周夢蝶, the Butterfly Dream written by Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi 莊子 from the late Warring States period (369–286 BCE). In Zhuangzi’s Butterfly Dream, a human dreamed of being a butterfly who dreamed of being a human. Zhuangzi’s Butterfly Dream serves as an articulation of Taoism’s challenge toward definitions of reality vs. allusion. The story has had a substantial impact on later philosophies, both Eastern and Western. The story, as translated by Lin Yutang 林語堂, goes like this:

“Once upon a time, I, Zhuangzi, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Zhuangzi. Soon I awakened, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man. Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things.”

This short story points to some exciting and much-explored philosophical issues, stemming from the relationship between the waking state and the dream-state, or between illusion and reality: How do we know when we’re dreaming, and when we’re awake? What is real and what is surreal? Can both real and surreal states co-exist? THE BUTTERFLY EXCHANGE is created as a metaphoric response to all these philosophical questions.

THE BUTTERFLY EXCHANGE first presents to the dualistic state of realism, reality, and wokeness, and the state of surrealism, allusion, and dreamscape. Then, both states are switching back and forth, mixed up, and intertwined into one seamless journey, where the differences and divisions of both states are becoming vague and undifferentiated. Only then, the coexistence of both states can be created.

– Huang Ruo
黄若
2022